Scary newbie unhitching mistake

Tampakayaker

PNWtabber said:

Scary tale, indeed.  I was looking into BAL levelers, but they seem to be out of stock everywhere.  This thread has me considering their tire chock though.  Anyone use this?
https://www.amazon.com/BAL-28020-Single-Axle-Chock/dp/B001UGPEJA

That's impressive, but before you spend the big $$$ you might want to look at the rubber wheel chocks from Harbor Freight and see if they work for you.  The were just on sale for around $6, the normal price is $8.

Have you checked on Craigslist, etc for a BAL leveler?  I got 2 of them that way.  Had to replace the first one, someone stole it out of my truck bed the night before we were going camping.

GatorEgg

Look into a Bal leveler.  Much simpler than LEGO blocks and trailer won’t roll off of it.

Blueespy

jules2go said:

Recently I was getting my Tab settled into a new campsite right next to a creek and had a really scary thing happen. I'm still not sure how it happened, but here is the order of events as I recall. I had gotten it level on one leggo leveler block on the passenger side (so was pretty level to start with) and the other wheel had the chock blocks on both sides of the tire (no wheel chocks on the other wheel that was on the leveling block). I placed my wood blocks under the tongue jack and cranked the post down -- no foot on the end of the post, another mistake -- and proceeded to unhitch. I pulled the truck forward (unhooked from camper). I went back to the tongue jack to start the front to back leveling and suddenly it rolled forward down off the wood blocks and the post scraped across the ground -- and thankfully it didn't move anymore. It had rolled down off the leveling block and the wheel chocks on the other wheel had not held it in place. 

I was TERRIFIED for different reasons -- for one, omg what if it had rolled the other way and ended up in the creek?!! But also did I damage the post or anything else? How was I going to get it back up onto the blocks? I was too scared to do anything, having suddenly developed minus zero confidence. So I went to my neighbor who had a trailer too and he was so nice and helped me get it all back in order. He highly suggested I put wheel chocks on BOTH tires (how do you do that if it's up on leveling blocks?). He couldn't quite figure out what I done wrong. I think I didn't kick the wheel chocks in nice and tight, but rather had just put them up against the tire. 

I am now so ridiculously nervous every time I go to unhitch. I did buy a foot for the post to give it more support, and I now kick the chocks in tighter. 

Feedback will be greatly appreciated! Sorry for such a long post, but I was trying to describe what happened. 

Happened to us on our first night of our 3xmonth trip to Alaska.  Learned quickly so here is our routine.  We choke the wheels.  We use a wheel dock and always connect the tongue wheel.  Disconnect the chains, emergency brake and power cords.  Jack front up to clear TV hitch and then move TV.  Lower trailer to level.  This has been our key to success and we haven't had an issue since adopting this.  When our trailer rolled, it rolled forward right into the back bumper of our new Jeep Grand Cherokee. 

db_cooper

I'll add that I've made mistakes unhooking on unlevel ground a couple times now.  The last time I even managed to mangle a stabilizer when the camper spun a circle.  I somehow thought I could raise and lower off the ball to unhook before gravity took over.  🤪  I now have a collection of valterra legos that work with these wheel chocks.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005948J46/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_PnEMFb6RMZPJ0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

I also now have a BAL for ski trips after finding it impossible to drive onto Legos when the pavement is icy.

kkfouche

Does the Bal leveler work on the Boondock 15" wheels?

PNWtabber

@kkfouche -- The description says 13", 14", and some 15".  I was thinking of reaching out to the company with my tire size to see what they say, but I haven't done that yet.  My tires are 235/75R15

RogerC

dsfdogs said:

@jules2go I use the Tri-Lynx orange lego type leveling pads (they are very versatile and can also be used under the jack post or stabilizers or tow vehicle tires). 

@dsfdogs Can those Tri-Lynx leveling pads be used directly under the jack post with the jack wheel resting directly on the stack of pads?   I've had a couple of occasions where I can't get enough height under the tongue to get the camper level front to back.  Even with the wheel on and the tongue jack fully extended we slept with our toes about six inches lower than our heads.  

Looking for a good option to add some significant height and support the tongue jack.  

Marceline

RogerC said:

dsfdogs said:

@jules2go I use the Tri-Lynx orange lego type leveling pads (they are very versatile and can also be used under the jack post or stabilizers or tow vehicle tires). 

@dsfdogs Can those Tri-Lynx leveling pads be used directly under the jack post with the jack wheel resting directly on the stack of pads?   I've had a couple of occasions where I can't get enough height under the tongue to get the camper level front to back.  Even with the wheel on and the tongue jack fully extended we slept with our toes about six inches lower than our heads.  

Looking for a good option to add some significant height and support the tongue jack.  

That's a heck of a downslope. I use my jack post on the lego-type blocks all the time - but without a wheel. The end of the post fits nicely between the "lego" bumps.  I'm not sure that I'd do that with a wheel - I'd be worried about the wheel slipping. 

You could maybe try this, although I'm not sure that it's much taller than the wheel. And you'd have to figure out a level spot under the tongue so it wouldn't slip.

Once when I was parked on a downslope overnight and I didn't want to unhitch I ran the rear tires of my TV up on blocks to raise the tongue. I'm sure that someone will come up with a reason that this was a bad idea, though... 

KismetKrush

A relative newbie here-I have been lucky enough to stay in relatively flat places and use a double chock. If it's a quick over night then I keep it hitched with still chocking. What's the danger of not precisely leveling? 

Slackers

Unless you have a propane fridge the Tab need not be precisely level.  Your biggest risk is a headache if the trailer tilts slightly toward your head when you sleep. Disclaimer: you've chalked the wheels and the TV is in park and has a functional parking brake applied.

Mickerly

Not popular these days, but we use the wedge lever. You roll up on one wedge and put the other wedge into keep it from moving. An 18in 4x6 gives us more height when needed.

dsfdogs

@RogerC yes, I've used a stack of leveling pads under my jack wheel. The wheel nestles in so I don't think it would move? Lately I've done this when installing/removing the WDH to help with the amount of raising/lowering needed. Six inches is quite a slope! I can't imagine how you even unhitched!

@Marceline, I too have put a leveling pad under the back TV tires to bring the tongue up to level for a hitched-up overnight. Similarly, with a slight backwards downslope I've put pads under both trailer tires to level while hitched overnight.